William Penn Was Born
October 14, 1644
Born the privileged son of a land-owning gentleman, young William Penn was greatly affected by the preaching of Quaker minister Thomas Loe. Expelled from Oxford University in England in 1662 for refusing to conform to the Anglican Church, Penn joined the Quakers. He was locked up in the Tower of London four times for stating his beliefs in public and in print. After his father died in 1670, Penn inherited the family estates and began to frequent the court of King Charles II, campaigning for religious freedom.